rec.autos.simulators

I was thinking that just a bit of difference in the position of Schrader's
car
would've probably vastly changed the outcome.  Or if Earnhardt had let the
car spin when he first lost the air off the spoiler - he probably would've
spun to the infield or backed up into the wall at a slower speed, but
probably
would've taken out most of the pack behind him.

I'm in full agreement here.  Many are saying that DE went from 185 to about
70 mph, bad enough.  But I think that in the forward vector, he was damn
near stopped and as you say, only moved then by Schrader's car.  And I too
think that the HANS device would've kept his neck and / or skull from
fracturing,
but that it would've done NOTHING for his brain slamming into his skull at
150-185mph.

Same here.

"Who is the more foolish?  The fool, or the fool who follows him?"
 - Obi-Wan Kenobi

volksy(at)yahoo(dot)com

Go #43, #44, #45!

R.I.P Adam, Kenny, Tony, and Dale

In the case of DE, I *absolutely* blame the very same restrictor plate
racing he always decried.  It's what had that field so bunched up in the
first place.  With a spread out field it never would have happened.  I
was further enraged today by the media reports here in Detroit.  I don't
know if the media elsewhere is playing it the same way or not but I'd
bet they are.  To paraphrase, they were saying there is a safety device
out there, DE refused to wear it & he ended up dying.  A shrug of their
shoulders as if to indicate what could we do?  Blame the victim time.  I
hope the other drivers are paying attention & seeing just how fast backs
will get turned on them & fingers of blame thrust in their direction if,
God forbid, anything tragic ever happens to them.  

To steal a very accurate quote from an article I read earlier today...
the NASCAR officials have *** on their hands.  I hope they rot in
Hell.

Can you tell I still pissed?

--

Fester

--
Scott B. Husted
"PA-Scott"
ICQ# 4395450

The human body simply wasn't designed to withstand the G-forces that Earnhardt
suffered in that crash. I don't believe that the HANS device, a lightweight
helmet, or any other such device would have made a difference. It was the brain
crashing against the inside of the skull and the internal organs hitting the
inside of the rib cage that killed him.

George Adams

"From the rockin' of the cradle to the rollin' of the hearse, the goin' up was
worth the comin' down."
___Kris Kristofferson "The Pilgrim/Chapter 33"

[snip]

But consider the other side: it's no fun if one team was able to produce
a better car and win consistently. Look at all the other races around
the
world. WRC has virtually identical cars (300 HP, 4WD) on superspecial
stages. BTCC and STCC have 300 hp cars on road courses. Those
races feature VERY even racing.

Grand Prix also had several revisions prior to Ayrton Senna's death.
They took out traction control, active suspension, and more, in order to
put the emphasis on the driver.

I don't think that's what killed Mr. Earnhardt. I personally think it's
a serious
lack of safety equipment in the car. As any one looking at the replay
can
see, the impact doesn't SEEM that serious. Most likely, Mr. Earnhardt
hit
his head and chest on the steering wheel and died from that.

IMHO, NASCAR should implement airbags. Yes, AIRBAGS. The weight
of an airbag system would be trivial in a NASCAR Winston Cup racer or
even a Busch Grand National racer. If the car departs normal motion
(i.e. the car's nose is more than 30-45 degrees off the direction of
travel)
the airbag(s) will deploy. At 180+ mph you can't rely on the collision
to
deploy the airbags.

That WILL happen if you have tight racing. It's a part of the "game".

You don't see serious injuries except that big one involving Ayrton
Senna
in European racing because they race smaller cars with less horsepower
on road courses. It's only Americans who are obsessed with extreme
high speed racing, and it's the drivers who are at risk to please us,
the fans.

There's also a big debate on "who" is at fault with Senna's death.
There's
several theories, including bad steering shaft (the wreckage shows that
the
shaft had broken, but can't tell if it's before or after impact), cold
tires (the
pace car, an Peugeot, was NOT up to the task), rules change (instead of
a true restart they did "yellow flag"  laps), debris on the track (that
could
have punctured the tire), bad track design (the track was raised off the
ground, so when Senna lost control he was airborne, unable to slow down
until he hit the wall), Senna's state of mind (one of his fellow driver
friends
had died in practice the day before on a practice lap), and more.

I'm sure all the NASCAR officials and consultants will study that replay
to
see if there's ANY WAY we could have prevented that tragedy. I'd suggest
airbags, and it may be a part of the solution. We shall see.

--KC

True, but I'd still like to see every effort made to protect the safety of
the driver.  I haven't been following racing too long, but it seems as if
more strides need to be made.  NASCAR isn't the worst though, it amazes me
that more people aren't killed in and by rally cars.

He was a proponent of taking off the restrictor plates and letting em' run.  He
once asked, rhetorically, why the open wheelers could run at 220+ at the ovals,
but NASCAR couldn't.

The "mods" where designed to "punch" a bigger hole in the air, enhancing
drafting and allowing drivers to pass instead of dropping all the way to the
back when they pulled out of line, while they opened the restrictor plate  just
a touch to allow more horsepower for overtaking.  This was supposed to
accomplish two things, allow for passing instead of just dropping back, and to
break up the field into smaller running groups. Nascar failed miserably in the
second part.

Some of the drivers said that they actually had to get on the brake to stop
from hitting  another car from behind due to the "vaccuum" that was pulling
them forward.  This is truly the "draft,"  the way it used to be, and takes a
considerable amount of experience to get a handle on.  Thats why running at the
superspeedways was always frought with danger for rookies, because they didn't
have the drafting experience to win.  And to be honest, the draft is still no
where near what it was even 15 years ago.

There are still many aspects to be worked on and there always will be.  It is a
continuing battle.

Lastly, its not all NASCAR, Earnhardt just may have been able to help himself
by wearing a full face helmet and using the new HANS device, who knows.  Maybe
it wouldn't have saved him, but then again, it might have given him a fighting
chance.

Be sure, no matter what, they know the ramifications of stepping into the car.

He will be missed.
Respectfully,
Michael Loos

Now that you mention it, there is no difference. I was talking strictly
restrictor plates (which I think they should eliminate). To be honest
the roof strip is so new I totally forgot about it. It could very well be
the NASCAR version of the Hanford device. Except for hte fact that
the roof strip does not make the following car ballistically fast like the
Hanford device does in CART.

--

Correct. I heard the *** vessels in his brain were severed and the base of
his
skull of very very damaged. It seemed like a phase 12 concussion or
something.

--